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How Google Search Really Works

INTRO FROM DON – This is Heather’s submission for the intern selection process. In my view she’s done an extremely good job at writing about this subject. It’s also much more in depth than the article I wrote for comparison. In depth is a very good thing for serious readers, and allows more keywords to be placed. It reads smoothly and consistently from start to finish.

How Google Search Really Works by Heather B. Costa

Google. One of the largest and most popular search engines on the internet. The World Wide web is such a vast and daunting place that all of us – at one point or another – will use a search engine to find the content we’re looking for.

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Even if you’re not a webmaster or a blog owner, understanding how Google Search works is an invaluable skill that will save you time, effort, (and possibly money) in the long-run. We’ve all typed in a generic search term at least once in our lives and been presented with hundreds of thousands of results, many of which have little or nothing to do with the subject we’re looking for.

Take this for an example: searching the internet for the word ‘bed’. Ok, I just did that and got 145 million results. Are you really going to trawl through hundreds of millions of sites to get to the stuff you were actually looking for in the first place?

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That’s where keywords come in. We can modify our search results by adding keywords such as ‘wooden’, ‘four-poster’, ‘bed and breakfast’. The more keywords we add, the more refined the search results, and it’s this key factor that is important for those adding content to the internet and for those wishing to find it.

When you search keywords on Google, there are three types of results that might be generated. They are: organic results, AdWords adverts, and AdSense adverts. If you’re a website owner or a blogger you’re more than likely to want to concentrate on the first option as the other two have the potential to cost you a lot of money in terms of promoting your website/business/blog/brand.

Organic results are based on keywords and the content of the web page itself, as well as links to and from other similar websites. So, unless you want to pay large amounts of money to promote your web presence, how else can you find your way to the top of Google’s Search listing pages?

Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO for short). It does what it says on the tin; it optimises the chances of your content being found and promoted by the Google Search engine.

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But how does it work?

Once Google is aware of your presence on the internet, it will begin searching your website’s content for keywords – these are the search terms that users of Google will enter in order to garner a list of results. When someone enters the word ‘bed’, Google will then search for every available webpage that features the word. That’s all well and good, but what if your website is languishing somewhere near the bottom of the millions of results generated by that keyword?

You need to maximise the chances of your webpage being seen and that means getting it somewhere near the top of the search results page.

But how is that done?

As a blogger or a webmaster, you need to know at least a few of the basics in order to maximise your SEO while also being aware of what are considered ethical and unethical practices when it comes to doing this.

There are hundreds of WYSIWYG sites out there which can help even the most technologically-challenged internet user create a dynamic and compelling web presence. Long gone are the days when a webpage owner needed to know HTML 4.0 both inside and out, yet some of the key ideas from the coding days of yore still have a great deal of merit today.

If you own a WordPress blog, the chances are that you’ve seen the keyword function in the ‘Posts’ section of the Dashboard (it’s listed as ‘Tags’ on the right-hand side of the screen). This is where you can enter the key words for your blog post, aiming to give it maximum exposure on Google Search.

The idea is to use keywords that are not only relevant to the content of your webpage, but also are likely to be search terms commonly used on Google Search. Your webpage title is also extremely important and should be dynamic and engaging while still remaining true to the content of the page itself.

I’m sure that we could all title a webpage or a blog post ‘bed’ but that probably wouldn’t pique many people’s interest or make them click on your link (even if it did end up at the top of the search results page). Now imagine how much more intriguing your webpage would sound if you added a few more keywords, something along the lines of ‘One Direction are in my bed’.

Now that you’ve added the words ‘One Direction’ to ‘bed’ as keywords, you better damn well make sure that your page has something to do with both, otherwise you’re going to get on the wrong side of folks when they find out your title was nothing more than an elaborate ruse to get them to visit your site. You’re shooting yourself in the foot by doing that; visitors aren’t going to stay around for long when they find out you’re a liar and they certainly aren’t going to come back and visit your site again – regardless of the content you might post. You’ve already made yourself out to be disingenuous and folks don’t like that….

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It’s important to focus your webpages on unique content, but how do you do that?

Let’s face it, pretty much everything that’s been said about anything has been done a million times before. You can’t reinvent the wheel, but how do you make your own web presence unique? By putting touches of yourself on it and then using the keywords of your content to promote your site.

Something that is all too often forgotten is the power of images. Sometimes it is a specific image that will land your site at the top of the search pile and so it’s important to remember that any images you add to your pages (without infringing on anyone else’s copyright!) must have meaningful titles so that Google Search can pick up on them when looking for keywords.

The advent of the internet has brought the world closer together in terms of communication, but it’s important to remember that your webpage is unlikely to survive or find much success unless it is part of a community. Webpages with links to relevant content on other sites is an important way of maximising your SEO potential and this can mean spending time and effort adding your webpages to many of the free directories out there on the internet. Yes, it takes time and effort, but if you’re not willing to put in the hard yards, then why should anyone bother to visit your site in the first place?

You need to start thinking of your website or blog as a business and promote it as such (without wandering into the realms of being annoying or overbearing in doing so). Your website’s success depends on the effort you put into maintaining and updating the information on it. Without promotion and prominence, the webpages you spent so many hours slaving over are likely to come to nothing.

If you don’t believe in your site, how can you expect others to?

Like it or not, you always have to be promoting or ‘ABP’ as the lovely Don Charisma likes to call it 🙂

You can’t sell your brand if no one’s heard of it. You need to make the most of the opportunities that many ‘build it yourself’ websites offer and maximise your SEO by understanding how search engines work in the first place.

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, someone much wiser than I: ‘If you fail to prepare, you better prepare to fail.’

Put the hard yards in now and reap the rewards in the future when your website becomes a success – the kind that lands you at the top of the search pile. After all, you only get out as much as you put in.

BY HEATHER B. COSTA

(c) DonCharisma.org & DonCharisma.com 2014

For commercial enquiries including SEO services contact us at DonCharisma.com

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Warm regards

Don Charisma

Resources & Sources

Strawberries & Engine – morgueFile

Google Screenshots (c) Don Charisma

Notes for commenters:

Don Charisma Warning Improvised Writing

Comments are invited. BUT you are reminded that this is a public blog and you are also reminded to think before you press the “post comment” button. 

Good manners are a mark of a charismatic person – so please keep comments civil, non-argumentative, constructive and related, or they will be moderated. If you feel you can’t comply, press the “unfollow” button and/or refrain from commenting.

I read ALL comments but can’t always reply. I will comment if I think there’s something that I can add to what you’ve said. I do delete without notice comments that don’t follow rules above. For persistent offenders I will ignore you permanently and/or report you.

Most decent people already know how to behave respectfully. Thank you for your co-operation on the above.

Warm regards, Don Charisma

70 thoughts on “How Google Search Really Works”

  1. Thanks Heather and Don, wonderful article and very insightful! I’d love to learn more from you guys! Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge, it is so needed. x

    2. Wow, thanks for the reblog, it is very much appreciated! 🙂

      I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the article, I hope that I can keep impressing you with future offerings 🙂

  4. Reblogged this on Odyssey of a Novice Writer and commented:
    Heather Costa is writing a series of articles as part of her internship with Don Charisma. She’s done an exceptional job of taking a topic that could have been deadly dull and made it not only informative but interesting. Way to go, Heather! You’ll want to read this article, people – some great information is provided.

  5. Hi Heather, I commented on this article on your blog, but wanted to leave a comment here. Fantastic job in writing this – you made something that could have been deadly dull very interesting. I look forward to more from you.

    2. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment here on the original post as well as the reblog on my own site, it is very much appreciated 🙂

      Your comments are exactly what a writer likes to hear and I take it as a huge compliment!

      Heather xxxx ❤

  6. This is a fantastic article, Heather.

    I appreciate the clear and concise explanation of SEO and how Google’s search engine (and search engines in general) work presented in a way that I could easily understand.

    The concepts of maximizing post titles, providing quality personalized content, using relevant keywords and putting “the hard yards in now and reap the rewards in the future” are the keys to success. You’ve effectively presented these points in a lively and informative way.

    Thanks so much. I learned a lot reading your post!!

    Best Regards,
    Eric

    2. Hi Eric,

      Thank you so much for your wonderful comments, I am very glad to hear that you enjoyed the article and that you got so much from it, for a writer that is very gratifying to hear 🙂

      I hope you’ll also enjoy other articles that are currently in the production process, keep your eyes peeled!

      Best wishes,

      Heather xxx

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, they are very much appreciated. I’m glad that you got so much out of the article and there will be more in the pipeline to come 🙂

    1. Thanks, Michelle! 🙂

      The plaudits should go to Don for the tips seeing as I got them from him…. 😆

  10. Very good post Heather. I’m so glad to see you advancing and giving your all to your writing. This was a very informative article. One I think I’ll be returning to.
    🙂

  12. Reblogged this on Trials of a wanna-be-published writer and commented:
    This is the competition piece that I submitted for Don’s Intern Application process. Don has very kindly posted it on his blog to give everyone a chance too see what I came up with 🙂

      1. A wise man told me of the adage of ‘Always Be Promoting’…… 😆

  14. What a splendid write from Heather! Informative and elegant – and most of all HELPFUL!
    I tell you what – it is the constant ‘keeping it up’ that stresses me – those search results fall rapidly if you dont KEEP AT IT…sigh. 😉

    2. Thank you Belinda!

      I am so glad that you enjoyed the article, I had a lot of fun writing it too 🙂

      And you know, Don is a great teacher….

    2. Thank you Elaine and thank you to you also, Don, for your very kind words! 🙂

  16. The tag on post as typical example of keyword make issues of SEO a bit clearer. Thank you so much for that. It’s important to know that keyword research is simply having access to the language of the desired audience to gain their attention, permission and acceptance. You will need to have budget for keyword research.

  17. Don,
    Good choice fer intern she really rocked that…my ex Lil’ Mouse was a Librarian with a fascination fer all stuff meta-data (‘cluding search engine optimization which thanks to this post it has finally sunk in that’s what SEO stands fer…though I am sure I have read it countless times before including and probably here in one of yer posts).
    Annyway, still she did a great job…but truthfully I would dread if my blog “made it big” on so many levels.
    How bout a post fer someone looking to blog their way to modestly paying obscurity 🙂
    Seriously though lot of good suggestions, especially regarding keywords…however she fergot to mention kittens 🙂
    Anyway and again great post D.C.

    1. THanks … heather did brilliantly 🙂

      I’m still working on the blog paying in modest obscurity, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one … I do have a friend who has a blog that’s been approached by a commercial company to do research … I can’t give any details because I was told in confidence … my main point is that this person is a very good and passionate blogger, and they were doing it just because they enjoy doing it …

      I put material out from time to time, and always happy to answer specific questions if I can … “How do I make money from my blog?” is a little too broad !

      Cheers

      Don

      1. Don..thanks as always fer yer responses to replies. Lol I don’t know how ya do it. N I apologize like the kitten reference, the “modestly paying obscurity” was my attempt at humor.
        I think yer posts consistently offer insightful tips on how to make a blog either more visible, or more…connected, and indeed learning and applying these techniques is a good start fer any blogger looking to to jes that.
        Thanks again D.C.

      2. You’re welcome my friend … sometimes I don’t get humour, so sorry for that, doesn’t always cross the written border, I usually over-accentuate with lots of smiley face and lol’s …

        I also always try to look behind the smoke and mirrors, to see what’s really going on, see what the magician is doing rather than what he wants you to see 🙂

        We’re fine dude, I think you’re cool guy …

        Cheers

        Don

    2. My apologies for letting your comments slip under the radar, so sorry about that!

      Thank you so much for your comments and kind words. I’m learning a lot from Don and am hoping to publish an update post very soon regarding the intern process and how I’m getting on with articles 🙂

    2. Thanks for your comments. I hope you enjoyed what I came up with 🙂

  19. Incredible post! As someone who loves to learn, this was very useful! I liked the more technical aspect of it.

    I felt this really got into the nuts and bolts of how important it is to maximize your blog posts to reach a further audience.

    1. Absolutely, she did a fantastic job, and smoothly dovetailed together from one paragraph to the next … very impressed 🙂

      More to come once we get started on the project …

      Cheers

      Don

    2. Thanks, Carrie-Anne, I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed my article!

      More exciting stuff to come…. 🙂

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